Er Shi Si Wei Nuan Fusheng (2022)

Clichéd But Hilarious, Sweet and Delightful

This drama is by no means revolutionary or original, but having said that, it is also light-hearted, somewhat "modernised", and comforting. It's a given that the main leads would end up together, but despite knowing the obvious, I couldn't stop watching, plus the laughs and pinching heartaches I felt (in a good way) were incredibly addicting.

STORY
This is a story about a manhua character, Xia Yu Bing, changing the lives of other manhua characters in her world through maintaining high readership ratings and preventing the manhua from getting axed (thus preserving her own life). She does this by employing various familiar business models that are frequently used in the real, modern world. The manhua artist's initial story had a dark beginning, but as she made changes to her storyline, Xia Yu Bing also independently changed her fate in her world. Everything about the drama is riddled with traditional tropes - corny fall-and-catch shoujo moments, the obligatory rain scene (lots), show-your-love-through-cooking, including the initial dislike the main leads had for each other before eventually falling in love, and yet the joy encompassed is in all of these things. What is a romance drama without some villainous plot and angst? Other than romance and friendship (Xu Zi Yan and Ye Wen Zhao are best friends), I also love the dynamic Xu Zi Yan had with his father, Xu Guang Ling. The scenes of this father and son pair were definitely some of my favourite. Xu Senior is not only loving father to his son, but also to his daughter-in-law. Each time father and son bicker playfully with each other, knowing they both care deeply for the other gave me a warm and fuzzy feeling. Plot holes notwithstanding, all of that still makes for an entertaining watch and I could ignore the implausibility of certain parts in the script. Lastly, although the official Viki synopsis says the male lead was "determined to wipe her (female lead) out and conduct experiments on her body", this is grossly misleading and inaccurate.

MUSIC
I love the songs they selected for this drama. The non-vocal OP is upbeat, catchy and suits the overall theme of the drama. The ED theme, 人生一回合, translated as "One Round of Life" is sung by Ye Wen Zhao's actor in the drama, Xu Bing Chao. The other song used during interludes, the more romantic 落雨纷, translated as "The Scattering Falling Rain" is sung by Qing Sang. This song is my favourite.

ACTING
What I say may sound generic, but it's true. Everyone did a wonderful job in this drama. Dong Si Yi was wonderful to watch. She was funny, expressive, smart, girly, and cute as Xia Yu Bing. I especially love whenever she behaved coquettishly towards Xu Zi Yan. Watching him crumble under her charms was really rewarding for me. I can't imagine anyone but her in this role. I was quite surprised by Lee Ge Yang's performance, seeing that he's relatively green in the industry. While his character, Xu Zi Yan, didn't have much room for expressive navigations at first for being the cold, emotionless genius, he nevertheless performed quite well at portraying the desperation and despair Xu Zi Yan felt in the later half of the series.

OVERALL
I started this drama with zero expectations, as I only happened to see it aired on the day of its release. Suddenly, I found myself marathoning this throughout the night, and the next two days after. And after finishing the series, I looked up on videos and short interviews the main leads gave soon after the show. In one clip, when asked to describe their characters, Lee Ge Yang called Xu Zi Yan a medical genius who is a "wife-doting maniac", but Dong Si Yi responded, "He's okay..." in a slightly dead-panned manner lol. This exchange just made me feel they're really perfectly cast as the characters they played. The drama overall has left me with nothing but a lasting good impression - and I will surely watch this again for the comedy and romance.

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Charming Comedy with likable leads and wonderful acting

Our story begins with a murder. A young bride (Xia Yubing) is force-fed poison on her wedding night, the groom (Xu Zi Yan) justifying the action by saying she had framed his beloved (Xia Liu Qing) and someone that evil deserves death. We learn Yubing was tricked into framing Liu Qing and that she really isn't villainous at heart. The tale is then jolted from the past to the present where we learn Yubing and Zi Yan are both characters in a comic by a newbie author and her editor isn't pleased with a story about a stupid girl and a heartless hero. The author swears she will do better next go around and after a few edits turns Yubing into the female lead and a good character in the story, with Zi Yan an eager young doctor wanting to force-feed her medicine in order to save her from a rare but deadly disease.

In spite of that somewhat confusing set up this is an easy-to-follow rom-com that (almost) never forgets its a comedy. I laughed during most of the episodes, even during what would typically be "dark" moments like an execution or torture. The story's emphasis is less on plot than it is on relationship building. Yubing turns out to be a savvy businesswoman with a lovely, warm heart. Not only do she and Zi Yan wind up having a wonderful romance but Yubing also establishes a terrific connection with her sister Liu Qing, Zi Yan's bestie Ye Wen, and with Zi Yan's father Xu Guang Ling. Yubing is a positive presence in all their lives as she helps to create a better family/friend situation for herself/those around her and a more cooperative and caring business environment for her community. If you like feel-good stories, this is definitely a show you'll enjoy.

The acting is excellent and the chemistry between our leads is fantastic.

Few things are perfect, however, and this is no exception. The story gave way too much time to the villain, which caused it to drag in parts. The ending, while happy, is a touch incomplete. The character of Gu Gu/NPC was fabulous and excellently portrayed but I could have done with less of the author, especially in the final episode. All that said, this is easily my favorite Chinese rom-com.

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